3. Holy Mountain

 Confessions of a Studio Rat

One mans journey through a world of recording studios and musicians in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s – without a net!

NEW YORK: We recorded several film soundtracks at A&R Recording. This particular session was unlike anything I had ever experienced, before or after. I can’t remember many details, as it was back in the 1970s. I was a Second engineer- assisting the main guy, in this case the engineering duties were alternated between Brooks Arthur and Dixon Van Winkle. The film was called Holy Mountain, directed by Alejandro Jodorowski. The movie was dark, psychedelic and to my young eyes, very, very weird. The “orchestra”, if you will, were a collection of about 20 people I had never seen before. No trace of the regular session guys who would normally show up for these dates. These folks sat on rugs on the floor, mostly, and I don’t remember music stands or sheet music being involved. I remember bottles of water, and lots of incense (as well as other substances, I'm sure) being burned. The musicians were all very friendly and happy to be involved in the project, whose Musical Director was Don Cherry.

We were using 35mm direct screen projection, run by Mitch up in the booth over the control room. (Not a video monitor in sight!) The musicians would sit around on their rugs, blankets, pillows etc and gaze up at the screen as each particular “cue” ran. I have to say, there were very few instruments being played I even recognized, and I remember having my first experience miking a japanese Koto and a Tibetan Horn, amongst other things. The players would very helpfully coach me on where the best microphone placement would be. We were using large Starbird microphone stands, so I could get “in” to whatever position I needed, and each mic stand had a large red tag on it with a number. I would make a note of the number and go back to the control room and tell the engineer what the instrument was. I’m sure none of us really knew what to expect, as the entire score seemed to be a “feel” thing. With the studio lights dimmed right down and colored lights added to make the vibe more groovy, Studio A-1 became the place to watch the action, and staff members would be hiding in the door’s air locks in the dark, watching the show.


Dixon and I at the Famous Flying V Console.

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